Waste-plastic processing provides global challenges and opportunities

Abstract

We are drowning in plastic waste. In 2015, 9.1 metric tonnes of plastic waste flowed into our oceans. Experts predict that by 2050, the total amount of plastic waste could amount to 850–950 metric tonnes. That will exceed the total mass of fish in the oceans. Ironically, unmanaged leaks of waste plastic into rivers and streams are only a small, though visible, part of a much more significant problem.